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Tuesday’s decisive victory for the Democratic-backed candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race offered a warning for Republicans that Elon Musk’s unfavorability with voters may outweigh the millions he’s pledged to spend for Republicans in next year’s midterms. Musk, the Tesla CEO who has become the face of the Department of Government Efficiency and President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash government spending, went all-in on the Wisconsin Supreme court race, spending more than $20 million and holding a rally in the state backing the conservative candidate last weekend. But his efforts to boost conservative Brad Schimel — which, combined with liberal donors, made Tuesday’s contest the most expensive judicial contest in US history – did not prevent Schimel’s 10-point defeat to liberal Susan Crawford.
She won with a campaign focused heavily on Musk’s involvement in the race, even referring to Musk as her “opponent ,” rather than Schimel, in campaign rallies. Tuesday’s results in Wisconsin and Florida, where Republicans won two House special elections but under-performed Trump’s 2024 numbers by double-digits, have fueled GOP concerns about this year’s New Jersey and Virginia governor races and next year’s midterms, and whether Musk’s DOGE chainsaw has become a drag on Trump’s – and the Republican – brand. “Musk was more of a motivator for the left than the right.
At some point I felt bad for the candidate because his voice got smothered,” former Wisconsin GOP Rep. Reid Ribble told CNN, referring to Schimel. Musk’s DOGE cuts are hardly the only reason Republicans are apprehensive about future races.
Historically, the president’s party does poorly in the lower-turnout midterm – Democrats took back the House in Trump’s first term, for instance – and voters have already made clear they’re concerned that Trump’s tariffs risk harming the economy and driving up prices. Democrats have also in the Trump era become the party of high-propensity voters, turning out in off-year and special elections more than Republicans do. But Musk’s high-profile role in Trump’s government – and his outsized presence in the Wisconsin race – have made him an obvious foil for Democrats, a cause they can rally around even as they remain divided on how their party should move forward.
“The Republicans are going to try to distance themselves now from Elon Musk. It’s not going to work. It’s too late.
You’re attached at the hip, and you’re going to feel the consequences of it, just like you did in Wisconsin last night,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday. Musk’s midterm moves Despite the Wisconsin loss, Musk intends to remain engaged in next year’s midterm races to help Republicans retain their majority in the House and Senate, according to someone familiar with the Tesla CEO’s thinking. Musk doesn’t plan to cede contests to Democrats in the future, and nothing that happened Tuesday is deterring the world’s richest man from his plans to invest in politics, the person said.
Musk always viewed the Wisconsin race as an uphill battle, but he decided to engage to force Democrats to spend more money than they otherwise would have – and in an attempt to energize Republicans, the source said. As CNN and others have reported, Musk has previously committed to putting $100 million into political groups controlled by Trump. Musk spent nearly $300 million last year to help elect Trump and Republicans in Congress.
Investments by Musk and groups aligned with him in the Wisconsin race topped $20 million. He also thrust himself into the center of the contest — bounding on stage wearing a foam cheesehead hat at a rally Sunday in Green Bay to campaign on Schimel’s behalf and deliver $1 million checks to voters as part of an effort to drive turnout. Musk’s rally was in Brown County, a swing county that Trump won with 53% of the vote in November.
Crawford flipped the county blue Tuesday night. Musk was circumspect about Tuesday’s election result, suggesting there was a moral victory even after telling his supporters at Sunday’s rally that winning the election was “important for the future of civilization.” “I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain,” Musk posted on X Wednesday.
Trump says DOGE to end “at some point” As the president held the first outdoor event of the year in the Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon, where he announced his new tariff policy, Musk was not front-and-center in the marquee program. Trump touted Republican victories in two special Congressional elections in Florida on Tuesday, but did not say a word about the Wisconsin race. The president not only blessed Musk’s outsized role in the Wisconsin election, his advisers told him Republicans may not be able to win without it because Trump voters have often only turned out in high numbers when the president’s name is actually on the ballot.
“Sure, Musk fired up Democratic voters, no doubt about it,” a longtime Wisconsin GOP official who was in frequent touch with the White House during the campaign. “But he also reminded Trump voters the president needed them.” The president has no intention of distancing himself from Musk, a top Republican official who visited the West Wing on Wednesday said, with their relationship forever solidified by how he helped deliver a White House victory last fall.
Yet Trump this week suggested Musk’s time in the government could be limited. As a special government employee, Musk’s tenure would be limited to 130 days, and Trump said that “at some point,” his Department of Government Efficiency would end, and he’d return to run Tesla and SpaceX. “You know, at a certain point, I think it will end,” Trump said.
“There’ll be a point at which the secretaries will be able to do this work and do it very, you know, as we say, with the scalpel, and that’s what we want.” Republicans welcome Musk’s cash One congressional GOP operative who was closely studying the results in Wisconsin said it’s hard not to see the race as a “referendum on Elon,” pointing to months of polling that showed Musk performing poorly among swing voters. (A CNN/SSRS poll in early March found just 35% of Americans overall had a favorable view of Musk.
) But in the House, that’s not translating to worried members phoning GOP leadership about what Tuesday’s results mean for their districts — at least not yet, according to multiple GOP sources. Senior Republicans insist they’re not concerned about the impact on an election that’s almost 600 days away, and they believe that Trump’s team will take care of Musk before then if they see him as a risk to House or Senate races. Congressional Republicans themselves have no interest in trying to force out Musk while he remains one of Trump’s closest allies in Washington.
“The two people you cannot criticize today in Republican politics are Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” according to a senior GOP operative who works on congressional races. And Musk’s pledge to donate $100 million for the upcoming midterms is a boon to the fundraising efforts the party needs to try to keep control of a razor-thin House. “From the Republican standpoint, there’s also a positive aspect to Musk – and that’s his money.
His money is very green, and it can pay for a lot of messaging,” former GOP Pennsylvania Rep. Charlie Dent told CNN. “So Republicans have to weigh that,” Dent added.
“He’s a double-edged sword.” Alex Conant, a veteran Republican strategist, cautioned against extrapolating too much from one special election. “I think the Democrats would love it if he turned off the spigot for Republican candidates,” Conant said of Musk.
“And I think similarly, Republicans rail against some of the big Democratic donors. Ultimately those attacks aren’t very effective. I think this is just a little different because Musk is so high-profile doing controversial things with DOGE.
” Mixed views on DOGE cuts Some Hill Republicans have privately expressed concerns to their leadership about how the cuts Musk is making could impact their districts. But beyond the cuts DOGE is making – cuts that Republicans have generally backed – Musk has also generated headlines by demeaning federal workers and accusing Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona of being a “traitor” after he visited Ukraine.
“I do think some of those statements are unnecessary,” said Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, one of three Republicans who won congressional districts in November carried by former Vice President Kamala Harris. “Those things are not needed.
They do not help us. ..
. His job is to audit the federal government.” Republican senators largely brushed off the potential negative impact of having Musk on the campaign trail when asked about Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election result on Wednesday Sen.
Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said he would “leave that up to the candidate,” when asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if Musk should be a visible presence in future key races. But Hawley predicted that candidates will “clamor” to have Trump with them on the trail, “because the president turns out votes, we know that.” Sen.
John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters Musk has a “right to his opinion,” and defended the Tesla CEO. “I’m glad he’s on my side. He’s a formidable advocate, and I’d like to see more people weigh in,” Kennedy said.
Caroline Wren, a longtime Trump fundraiser and adviser, accused Musk’s opponents of trying to scapegoat him for the Wisconsin loss. “Republicans have consistently underperformed in special elections,” she said. “He came in to fix a problem but Republicans have bigger structural issues having to do with infrastructure and turnout.
At the same time, yes, there are limitations to what you can do even with unlimited money.” House Democrats’ campaign arm quickly seized on Musk’s loss, targeting vulnerable Republicans like New York Rep. Mike Lawler – who got $1.
7 million in campaign help from Musk’s PAC last cycle –– in attacks that offered an early preview of their 2026 message. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler told CNN the results of the Supreme Court race send a message nationwide that the Republican Party will be tied to Musk even if he steps back from his government role. “If Elon Musk is going to keep getting involved in elections like this, then Republicans are going to reap the whirlwind,” Wikler said.
“If he is pushed off center stage, then eventually probably the focus will come back to Donald Trump, who’s not very popular either.” CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere, Arlette Saenz, Alison Main, Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer, Haley Talbot, and Casey Riddle contributed to this report..
